The National Team scored a touchdown in each quarter of its 28-0 victory and limited the American team to just 82 yards of total offense–a statistic that helped them win the battle of field position throughout the contest. The Nationals received the ball to open the game and were forced to punt, but on the Americans’ first possession, Stephens County athlete Javin Gordon jumped a Landon Walker pass attempt and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown to get the Nationals on the board. The Nationals added to their lead in the opening minute of the second quarter–capping a 7-play, 45-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Reginald Johnson (Blessed Trinity) to Bryce Lewis (Holy Redeemer). Brayden Lewis (Mount Vernon) ran in the successful 2-point attempt to make it 14-0 heading into the half.
The Americans opened the second half with their best drive of the game, but the 11-play, 63-yard drive reached the National 1-yard line and eventually stalled at 7-yard line following two negative rushing plays and a pair of incompletions. The scoreless drive took up the first 7:51 of the third quarter. The Nationals took over at its 7-yard line and advanced with a big 26-yard completion from Johnson to Lewis. Gordon added a 10-yard run and then capped off the 93-yard scoring drive with a 58-yard touchdown run with 1:09 left in the period. Johnson found Lewis on the 2-point conversion attempt to make it a 22-0 lead.
The Americans turned it over on downs to open the fourth quarter and then the Nationals capped off a 4-play scoring drive with a Lewis 3-yard touchdown run to make it a 28-0 lead with 8:59 left.
Gordon was named the game’s MVP after finishing with a game-high 96 rushing yards, including his 58-yard score. Defensively, Gordon had his 46-yard interception return touchdown in the first quarter and finished with 2.5 tackles.
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